Study finds bald head equals power

For those men on the front lines in the battle over baldness, new studies have found that being follicle-challenged may be a boon in the business world.

According to Albert Mannes of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, researchers studying masculinity found that men with shaved heads were perceived within a workplace to be more dominant, and in some cases, to be better leaders, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"There's something really strong, powerful and confident about laying it all bare," New York image consultant Julie Rath told the newspaper. She said thinning hair looked "kind of schlumpy."

Mannes told the Journal that he conducted three experiments as part of his own study, "Shorn Scalps and Perceptions of Male Dominance," and that after showing 344 test subjects photos of the same men in two versions -- one with thinning hair and the other showing the man with his hair digitally removed -- that the bald man was seen as more dominant. He said the man with thinning hair was perceived by the test subjects as less attractive and powerful.

Mannes said he was inspired to conduct the research after noticing that people treated him more deferentially once he shaved off his own thinning hair.